By Doug Fletcher,Staff Writer

LEWISTON – Mayor Lionel Guay said Wednesday that he’s confident he’ll be cleared of sex-related criminal charges once he gets his day in court.

That day, however, could be a long way off.

Guay’s lawyer, Jennifer Ferguson, filed a notice of appearance with Lewiston District Court that waived his Wednesday afternoon arraignment. She entered not guilty pleas to the seven charges that Guay faces: three counts of unlawful sexual touching and four counts of assault.

Ferguson also sought a jury trial on the mayor’s behalf.

Each misdemeanor charge carries a potential penalty of up to 364 days in jail and a fine of up to $2,000.

The Maine attorney general’s office lodged the charges against Guay a week before the mayor stood for re-election to a second two-year term. Despite the allegations, Guay was easily re-elected, beating challenger Charles Soule 86 percent to 14 percent in last week’s balloting.

The attorney general’s office was called in to investigate the case after an initial complaint was lodged with Lewiston police. City police requested that action to avoid any appearance of a conflict of interest.

Allegations

A teenage girl alleged that Guay touched her breasts on Feb. 11, touched her buttocks on March 15, and touched her breasts and kissed her on the mouth on Sept. 26.

Guay denied the charges when they became public earlier this month.

The mother of the girl who brought the charges has said the family won’t comment on the case until after it’s settled.

Court officials said Guay’s request for a jury trial likely will delay the case.

“It does disappoint me,” Guay said of the anticipated delay in getting the case resolved. “I wanted to have this taken care of as soon as possible.”

He said he opted for a jury trial on the advice of Ferguson. Her office said she was at court in Paris on Wednesday morning and unavailable for comment.

Copy the Story Link